Chapter 550 Public Opinion
Christina felt her stomach lurch. “What happened to him?” she asked with a trembling voice.
The call from Rayne’s end had a lot of background noise, and the signal was bad, making it hard to hear her voice. “I don’t know how to explain it either. You should look up the internet but don’t take it to heart, no matter how horrible the comments are. Just trust that Nathaniel can sort it out. I’ve got to keep an eye on the runway now. Call me if you need anything.”
As soon as the call ended, Christina launched the browser to find Nathaniel’s rumors as the top ten trending searches.
A comment read: The world of the wealthy has always been crazy, but I never expected someone as calm and composed as Nathaniel to have psychotic tricks up his sleeves. He’s totally shattered my worldview.
The next netizen wrote: I remember Madison had been working as Nathaniel’s a*sistant for years on end. She even attended various events as his female companion. He’s really cruel for throwing her into the psychiatric hospital just because she did not like his wife.
Another netizen wrote: You guys are outdated. I have a friend working at the psychiatric hospital, and he says Madison’s dead. Apparently, she was abused before she died. In fact, it was a miserable death, but all the evidence was erased.
The next comment read: He’s right. I can vouch for him. When Madison was dead, Old Mrs. Taggart went looking for Mrs. Hadley but got carried out of the ward. Rumor has it that Nathaniel locked her up.
One comment read: Madison’s death must have something to do with that man. I’m hearing more and more bad things about him this year.
The rest of the discussion on the internet criticized Nathaniel for being heartless, drowning out the netizens that voiced their doubts.
Christina closed the browser and dialed Nathaniel’s number. The call connected almost instantly.
“What’s wrong, Christina?” Nathaniel sounded calm.
“I saw the news on the internet. Are you all right?” Christina was gripped with worry. She couldn’t help it despite knowing Nathaniel would not be affected by the rumors.
“Do you trust me, Christina?’
Christina froze for a moment. Although she did not know why Nathaniel would suddenly ask
her that, she answered without hesitation, “I do.”
“Then don’t read the news or worry about me. I’ll take care of it.” Nathaniel’s voice had a magical effect that calmed Christina’s nerves.
Smiling faintly, Christina promised, “All right. I won’t read it. Are you coming back for dinner tonight? I’ll get Raymond to make your favorite dish.”
+5 Bonus
“I’ll pick you up from the hospital after work. Take good care of yourself. Don’t tire yourself out,” Nathaniel reminded worriedly. “Anyway, I’m at a meeting. I’ll call you later.”
Christina felt bad for interrupting her husband at work. “Okay. I won’t take up your anymore.”
When the call ended, Christina returned to Lucas’ bed and tucked him in.
time
In reality, Nathaniel was in a chaotic situation, unlike how it sounded in the call earlier.
Withdrawing Hadley Corporation’s investment from Koandria’s medical research was like making the company’s millions of investments go to waste.
The fact Nathaniel had given up on a potential project and allowed the Taggart family to benefit from it caught the attention of some board members.
Displeased by the turn of events, they demanded for a board meeting to get an explanation from Nathaniel.
The conference room was in utter chaos, yet Nathaniel looked as if he was watching a movie, totally unbothered. He would either ignore their questions or sidestep the curial details. Even worse, he answered the call in front of everyone with no care for the rules.
“Mr. Hadley, the medical project will be launched officially in three days. How could you just withdraw the investment without giving us a call? We were hoping this project would supply us enough funds for the second half of the year. Does the company’s future look like a joke to you?”
“Exactly! It’s a sixty percent profit. Sixty percent! Its monthly profit is higher than the company’s net profit in a year. Look at what you’ve done now. The Taggart family has benefitted from this, and they’re happy to show it off to the world, turning Hadley Corporation into the fattest joke on earth.”
“Mr. Hadley, you should give up your position sooner if you lack management skills. The company can’t keep failing because of you. A successful person should know where to draw the line between work and private matters.”
A series of aggressive comments were aimed at Nathaniel, increasing the intensity of his mocking gaze.
“Give up my position? No one here has the ability to take over my position!” he sneered.
The arrogance he exuded was incredible, and his piercing gaze that swept over the crowd. made the atmosphere tense.
“If anyone of you wants to withdraw your investment, I can purchase them at the market. price. However, there’s no turning back once you choose to leave Hadley Corporation. Those who decide to stay will have to do as I say. Please think carefully before making irresponsible remarks.”
With that, Nathaniel got up and left the room, and the crowd was left looking at each other speechlessly. Those who blatantly criticized Nathaniel earlier looked exceptionally pale with fright.
Tugging at his tie frustratedly, Nathaniel asked his a*sistant, “Have you found Sebastian yet?”
“No,” came the a*sistant’s answer.
The response only made Nathaniel stormed to his office.
Sebastian had served Nathaniel loyally for many years; he was the person who understood the latter the most.
Hence, Nathaniel could not just let Sebastian die like that.
In fact, Maggie was not as valuable as Sebastian. Nathaniel was simply creating a farce by not letting her go as requested by the Taggart family. Once the time was right, he could get rid of the entire Taggart family, eradicating any future problems once and for all.
The a*sistant observed Nathaniel’s expression cautiously. “The person behind your rumors is found. His name is Manuel Taggart-Old Mrs. Taggart and the Taggart family’s most favored grandson. Not only that, he even has plans to hold a glamorous funeral for Madison on behalf of Old Mrs. Taggart. Every influential person in Jadeborough has received an invitation.”
Nathaniel smirked. “When is the funeral?”
“It’ll be held in three days at the Taggart residence.”
After a momentary pause, Nathaniel instructed, “Send Old Mrs. Taggart home. I can’t be impolite when the Taggart family has given me such a huge gift. Postpone everything in my schedule for that day.”
“Understood.” The a*sistant turned around to leave.
Meanwhile, Nathaniel did not get anyone to suppress the news. He simply let the netizens carry on with their discussions.
He had just finished his work and was about to pick Christina up from the hospital when he bumped into a police officer who had some questions about the situation.
Just like that, Nathaniel was brought to the police station for a few hours of questioning.
It was almost midnight by the time Christina received a call from the police to pick Nathaniel up.
As they got into the car, Christina immediately threw herself at him and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.
“You scared me to death, Nathaniel. I thought they were going to lock you up!”
